PANJIM: Goa is set to serve as an example with four new projects that the Indian Medical Association (IMA) will be projecting at a national level. Also, following the rest of the country, Goa too will implement the recommendations by the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) of doctors writing in capital letters.
Speaking to Herald, IMA Secretary General Dr K K Agarwal said, “The State government has decided to launch four new projects, one of which involves eye surgery and another revolving around an end of life programme where terminally ill patients will be given treatment,” he said.
Revealing little about the projects, Agarwal said the ‘End of Life’ programme would be a unique one implemented in the State that would serve as a model for other states.
“It is a State project, but we at IMA will be promoting it at the national level,” he said.
The IMA secretary general who was in the State also spoke of the nationwide implementation of the MCI recommendation for doctors to write prescriptions in capital letters so that medications are legible.
Another issue IMA Goa discussed at their annual meeting was the issue of rural retention of doctors. “There are several rural areas where doctors don’t visit the Public Health Centers (PHC). They find it difficult to travel to rural areas so we have decided to implement a method by which it will be easy for them,” said Agarwal.
The Union Health Ministry had recently proposed an exit examination that all MBBS students passing out from colleges would have to answer which would allow them to practice medicine in any part of the country.
Speaking about the exit exams Dr Agarwal said the IMA was against the idea as it would create confusion in the minds of the students.
